SYNOPSIS: The North
American F100 Super Sabre, nicknamed "Hun," was a single seat jet fighter
that first came into service during the Korean War. During the Gulf of Tonkin
Crisis, which catapulted the United States head long into the Vietnam War,
the first Air Force F100 squadrons were sent to DaNang, South Vietnam in
August 1964. Interestingly, during both wars, the Hun's most valuable uses
were in close air support for ground troops, and as principle strike aircraft
because it could deliver its ordnance on target at treetop level at full
speed.

Oscar Eight was the code name
given to a sector of eastern Laos located in rugged jungle covered mountains
approximately 25 miles northwest of the infamous A Shau Valley, Saravane
Province, Laos. The area encompassed the junction of Highway 92, which was
a primary north-south artery of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and Highway 922, which
branched off and ran directly east where it crossed into South Vietnam at
a strategic point near the northern edge of the A Shau Valley. Oscar Eight
was also located at the southeastern end of a large and narrow jungle covered
valley that had two primary roads running through it, one on each side of
the valley. Highway 92 ran along the west side and Highway 919 along the
east. A power line ran parallel to Highway 92 and sometimes crossed it. In
addition to the roads and power line, the Hoi An River also flowed through
the valley passing the road junction roughly 1 mile west of it.

More American aircraft were
downed in this sector than any other place in Laos. This was because burrowed
deep in the hills of Oscar Eight was North Vietnamese General Vo Bam's 559th
Transportation Group's forward headquarters. It was also the Ho Chi Minh
Trail's control center and contained the largest NVA storage facility outside
of North Vietnam. Oscar Eight was defended by consecutive belts of anti-aircraft
artillery (AAA) guns of all sizes that were not only stationed on the ground,
but also mounted on platforms in the trees and were expertly camouflaged.
Oscar Eight also favored the enemy because the only suitable landing zones
were located in a wide bowl surrounded by jungle covered high ground containing
AAA guns and bunkered infantry.

On 9 August 1969, Capt. Laurent
L. "Lee" Gourley, pilot; and then 1st Lt. Jefferson S. "Scotty" Dotson, co-pilot;
comprised the crew of an F100F aircraft (tail #45-3734), call sign "Misty
31," on a single aircraft flight. They were conducting a Forward Air Control
(FAC) and visual reconnaissance mission on the Southern Steel Tiger Area
of Laos to search for enemy activity in the sector. Weather conditions in
the target area consisted of overcast clouds at 4,000 feet and visibility
of over 6 miles.

Operation Steel Tiger was
a limited interdiction effort against North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao troop/supply
movements within the panhandle of southern Laos. This route, known as the
infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail, consisted of numerous winding roads and pathways
through jungle covered mountains and valleys that served for many years as
an infiltration route from North Vietnam, through neutral Laos, then into
selected areas of South Vietnam under Communist control.

During the flight, Capt. Gourley
made regular radio transmissions. In his last message, he reported the aircraft's
position as "it was passing a well known location along an infiltration route."
He stated they were "progressing to another location" in accordance with
pre-flight briefing. The last reported location placed Misty 31 on the south
side of Route 92, a primary east/west road that was a major artery of the
Ho Chi Minh Trail. Route 92 ran along the southern side of a rugged jungle
covered mountain range. The location was approximately 5 miles east of the
road junction of routes 919 and 92, the same distance west of the road junction
between routes 922 and 92, 8 miles west-northwest of Travouac, 10 miles southwest
of the Lao/North Vietnamese border and 33 miles southeast of Tchepone, Savannakhet
Province, Laos. This was also 29 miles due west of the northern half of the
infamous A Shau Valley, South Vietnam.

At 1040 hours, Capt. Gourley
and 1st Lt. Dotson were scheduled to rendezvous with an airborne tanker for
refueling, but failed to do so. When no further radio contact could be established
with Misty 31, another aircraft was dispatched to the area of operation.
It arrived on site about an hour later and immediately began a visual and
electronic search for the missing aircraft and crew, which continued until
sundown. Search and rescue (SAR) efforts were initiated the next morning
at first light, but again failed to find any trace of the Super Sabre or
its crew. At the time the formal search effort was terminated, Lee Gourley
and Jefferson Dotson were listed Missing in Action.

All during the war the Gourley
and Dotson families wrote letters and sent packages to their men in care of
the Prime Minister of Laos, and they never heard anything in response. In
1974, the Gourley's sent a letter again in care of the Prime Minister of
Laos, but this time they received a response from the Prime Minister saying
that the letter would be conveyed later to their son.

During the war the United
States government requested that any family who received information from
or about their loved one to immediately share with the US Government through
their casualty officer. In accordance with that request, the Gourley family
provided a copy of the Prime Minister's letter only to have a State Department
representative tell them that the Prime Minister did not know English and
did not know what he was saying in his letter, which was written in English.

In 1976, the Gourley's sent
another letter to Capt. Gourley, this time in care of Prince Souvanna Phouma
in Vientiane, Laos. The Prince wrote back to them saying that he would give
their letter to the "central committee" to be sent to the "one for whom intended."
Upon learning about this latest correspondence, the US State Department representative
ordered the Gourley's to stop writing their son and brother in care of any
Lao officials.

1st Lt. Dotson and Capt. Gourley
were among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. Many of these men
were known to be alive on the ground. The Lao admitted holding "tens of tens"
of American Prisoners of War, but these men were never negotiated for either
by direct negotiation between our countries or the Paris Peace Accords since
Laos was not a party to that agreement.

If Lee Gourley and Scotty
Dotson died in the loss of their aircraft, each man has a right to have his
remains returned to their families, friends and country. However, because
the area of loss was in a region under total enemy control, it was believed
that if they successfully ejected, they would undoubtedly have been captured.
Therefore, their fate, like that of other Americans who remain unaccounted
for, could be quite different.

Since the end of the Vietnam
War, over 21,000 reports of American Prisoners, missing and otherwise unaccounted
for have been received by our government. Many of these reports document LIVE
American Prisoners of War remaining captive throughout Southeast Asia TODAY.

Fighter pilots in Vietnam
and Laos were called upon to fly in many dangerous circumstances, and were
prepared to be wounded, killed or captured. It probably never occurred to
them that they could be abandoned by the country they so proudly served.